Subsequent observations with an infra-red telescope, which can see things that are too cool to shine with visible light, showed that it was a very faint star so faint that it is off the bottom of astronomers' scale of stellar classification.

ECONOMIST: Twinkle, twinkle, giant planet

But at the center of the facade over the main entrance sits the faint imprint of the Star of David, the symbol of Judaism.

CNN: Discovering the real Zambia

Secondly, the detection of multiple planets demolishes once and for all the lingering doubts of some astronomers that the single planets found around other stars are not planets at all, but small, faint components in otherwise conventional binary star systems.

ECONOMIST: Planet hunting

But with future telescopes, scientists say it may be possible to see past the blinding glare of the parent star to pick out just the faint light passing through a small world's atmosphere or even reflected off its surface.

BBC: Kepler telescope spies 'most Earth-like' worlds to date